How To Find A Business Partner And Not Regret It

Your business surviving economic upheaval may come in the form of a business partnership.

Companies use alliances with suppliers, customers and other businesses for mutual leverage to compete and secure more sales. Your company partnering with another commercial entity is worth considering to weather an economic downturn. If it’s a loose arrangement, both parties can go their separate ways as per the agreement.

The loose partnership can also be a compatibility test before making the alliance a merger of both companies. In this article, we consider how to find commercial entities worthy of being your partner, albeit for a marketing campaign or some more serious and long term.

Offline Networking

Mixing with business leaders is the best way to understand how there could be some value and synergy in a partnership arrangement. Depending on your business needs, your team can also assist you in identifying key entities of interest.

Marketing – co-branding partnerships

Your marketing manager will be a member of marketing groups and associations and attend the regular get-togethers. Fresh new marketing ideas come from professional networking and the opportunity for co-branding campaigns. A few examples of successful synergistic marketing partnerships are:

• Uber and Spotify
• H&M with Alexander Wang
• McDonald and Helly Kitty
• Nike and Apple

Even competitors get together as witnessed with Burger King and McDonald’s.

Online Networking

Every second spent online can be an opportunity to sound out a potential business partner, and your employees are the go-to for what’s happening online and, in particular social networks.

Techies sharing knowledge

Your techies will also be members of professional networks, and they too can sound out opportunities to partner for mutual benefit. Not all networking is done in person. With tech-savvy businesses, social media and business discussion forums provide useful connections.

For example, a fintech app development firm may use tech forums to share their knowledge and prospect for business. This is a loose partnership so far as the forums benefit from having the tech firm participate and help out their members who may be paying a fee for their membership.

There are many examples of technology and software providers in business partnerships, including plugins and apps that improve the user experience. For example, smartphones with apps from various software providers. Sprint and Cisco’s WiFi network, and in the fintech space Mastercard and Apple.

Social Media

LinkedIn is the business person’s social networking platform, and it’s ideal for connecting with peers, sharing and seeking knowledge. Human Resources use it head-hunt and publish jobs.

Leaders in your business with a profile and connections can use LinkedIn to find business partners in any industry and discipline. Set up a company page on LinkedIn and join groups to extend your connections. There are no geographic barriers, so you can connect with professionals on and offshore.

LinkedIn presents as a trusted platform for business people to network on free and paid membership subscriptions. As well as HR, if you’re in the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) area of your business, LinkedIn is likely to be your go-to platform for initial partnership discussions and your connections your source for referrals.

Online communities

Sharing your content on business blogs and online communities raises your profile, and professionals will reach out to you. Numerous sites want guest contributions, including Huffington Post, HBR, Quora, Forbes, etc. Join communities that can add value to your business. Remember, they may be more generalistic like LinkedIn, Facebook or targeted to your industry.

Summary

Locating partners for alliances you won’t regret requires you to take action to be found. Whether you’re attending physical meetings or participating in forums online, you’re more likely to be found and also identify like-minded organisations to start the conversation when you’re remaining relevant in the right social circles.